Rosenthal’s Latest: Mets, Tigers, Yankees, Coghlan

The Mets appear to be keeping tabs on Brewers third baseman Aramis Ramirez and shortstop Jean Segura, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports in his latest video. Of the two, Ramirez is the more practical target for New York. He is expected to retire after the season and does not have a no-trade clause. The Mets are also interested in Ben Zobrist, but they believe other teams will outbid them.

The Yankees rotation may not be a priority at the trade deadline if the current starters remain healthy. In addition to the current options, Ivan Nova will begin a rehab assignment soon. Prospects Luis Severino and Bryan Mitchell provide further depth. The club could still acquire a star like Cole Hamels, but GM Brian Cashman says some of their top prospects are untouchable.

The easiest position for the Cubs to upgrade is left field. Chris Coghlan is hitting just .224/.298/.421 on the season. An unusually low .245 BABIP explains his low average. The club could hope for BABIP regression or replace him in one of several ways. They could trade for somebody like Zobrist. Alternatively, Javier Baez could be promoted to man third base with Kris Bryant moving to the outfield.

The Mets couldn’t say no fast enough. Braun hasn’t been great for an entire season in 3 years, plus hes owed 100M+.
If they really needed players that badly, they could make that same offer for much better players.

He’s a young, cost controlled SS who’s not very good. League average hitter, maybe a bit better, but not much, with speed and defense. That’s not unvaluable, but he’s not a stud commodity. Montero and Molina, who are both fairly highly regarded and maybe one other prospect in the 5-10 range would probably be fine. Cecchini maybe?

I find his bat to be slightly above average. Nice bat to slide into the leadoff spot which they need badly. What about Montero, Gee and Herrera. Since they’d be getting Segura they can slide Flores into 2B once this season is over with Murphy leaving. I just think Gee needs to go. 1) having problems with the team and it’s building a bad relationship 2) losing him would make the rotation better by being able to bring up Matz.

Well, yeah, the Mets want to get rid of him, but no one else wants to have him. I don’t see any reason that the Brewers would want him, especially with their budget constraints and his salary. Which will not huge, is more than they should be paying for his bad performance.

Is that Dilson Herrera? Middle infield is what they need least. Gee doesn’t really serve a purpose and I’m not sure what to think of Montero, but at first glance, he seems like he might be a middle reliever if that.

Montero isn’t injured anymore, if you’re referring to Plawecki he’s sick and if you’re referring to Molina he’s on the 7-day DL. Also Molina is 7th best prospect in the system, while Montero and Plawecki have also been up there.

yeah, but he’s been bouncing in and out of the rotation and i think he had an injury earlier in the season. he’s a control pitcher no doubt, but if he doesn’t have any reps he won’t have a feel for his control and proof is in the pudding.

Seguar, Zorbrist and ArRam are upgrades the Mets can use however I share Rosenthal’s thought on Zorbrist. I highly doubt that if the team somehow got him that he stays in Flushing especially with the Cubs opening their wallets. Also factor in that players that are free agents to be at the end of the season cannot be offered the qualifying offer if they are traded mid-season so the Mets would be left with nothing.

I’d say that’s a odd prediction you have, seeing as tho the Cubs have tried to acquire him several times already, and alcantra hasn’t proven himself. He might be as versatile as Zobrist, but Zobrist has experience, great clubhouse guy, Maddons favorite player, veteran, and is reliable.
I’d say either way, whether they get him in a trade or not, he’ll be a Cub next year. All signs point to it.

Maddon doesnt have influence on who they get. He wanted baez on the ml roster to start the year. Only way hes a cub next year is on a one year deal. Hes getting old so the contact ability and defensive versatility are waning.

He is collecting his $25M/year at home in Arkansas. Seems like a good deal if you can get it. I cannot think of another pitcher having a similar storyline. When he will make a public appearance to throw a baseball or provide an update on his medical status is anyone’s guess.

I have an expected babip stat that I’ve been calculating daily based upon batted ball velocity and launch angle. It’s not perfect, but it gives you an idea. Chris Coghlin is the definition of average in xBABIP. The league average is .359 (so set your standards there, not the usual .320 or whatever for normal babip), he has .359. Based upon his batted ball velocity and launch angles, he should have an average babip. Does he face a lot of shifts? Has he been unlucky? If you’re interested in seeing the stat for all of the mlb players, look at the derpymets tumblr.

The problem the Tigers have is that the positions not producing offensively are set for the near future. They just invested huge money in Victor for the next 4 years. The struggles in the lineup with him out, definitely show how much his bat sets the lineup tempo. You don’t pitch around Miggy with Victor on deck. Castellanos has improved defensively, but for a player who is known for his bat coming thru the system, its taking longer than expected to show at the Major League level. With so few major prospects in recent years, the Tigers are committed to waiting him out.
Romine takes one of the 4 bench spots. Raja another. Holaday/McCann, will be the back up catcher. Offensively, the only spot to upgrade is the last bench spot, currently held by Josh Wilson. In spite of his first 2 games, there is a reason he is a journeyman AAAA player. Still, I doubt changing the 4th spot on the bench will have any major effect on their offense.
The place I expect them to do upgrades at the deadline will be the pitching staff. A starting pitcher who will be more “stable”, or a solid 8th inning guy. If you can’t score runs, stop the other team from scoring them!

I agree with your assessment. If Victor does not come back strong and can’t hit Lefty, then they should get a platoon partner (Adam Lind??) They still would have Wilson is AAA to bring back as an injury replacement. If they go get someone like Lind now, they can play him full time, then platoon with Victor. If Victor seems OK to go full time by the trade deadline, then they can move (if its Lind) to someone like St.Louis, or keep as a strong Lefty bat off the bench. He can also be used to give Miggy a day off..

I’m fine with Coghlan in LF as a regular or a platoon guy. The batting average isn’t great, but the eye test corresponds with the low BABIP. He’s been making really great contact all season with balls being run down in the gap, diving catches, etc. Those balls have been starting to drop in recent weeks and his average has been steadily climbing.

That said, LF is the Cubs best opportunity to allow some of the other prospects to rotate into the big leagues. Moving Bryant to LF would allow Baez to stick at 3B after the interleague series are over. Or, moving Schwarber to LF and dealing a middle infielder, although all indications are that the Cubs are going to give Schwarber every opportunity to make the club as a catcher.

The Cubs will run out of available positions for all of the prospects pretty quickly. It’s a great organizational problem to have!

“Brewers aren’t going to deal Segura for anything but a top pitching prospect.” Keep him. Mets need not go down the path of other organizations in past who gutted their farm for a patch work. If the price isn’t to the Mets FO liking, stay the path and hope internal options and or your promising catcher d’Arnaud and future 2nd baseman Herrera returns healthy from injuries to help the team compete. I’m sure there are depth positional players who can be had for Neise or a Gee. The Mets just need fresh guys who make contact with bat. Pitching can handle the rest.